Margaret Rose Knight Sanford, a First Lady of North Carolina and avid philanthropist and patron of the arts, died peacefully at Duke Hospital on August 26, 2006. The wife of the late former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford was 88.
Margaret Rose Knight was born on June 6, 1918, in Hopkinsville, Ky. Her parents, John Richard and Elizabeth Ford Knight, died when she and her brother were young, and she was raised by her late aunt, Hettie Dickinson. Margaret Rose attended Christian College in Columbia, Mo., until she transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she graduated in 1941. Although she originally came to the University of North Carolina to study drama with the Playmakers Theater, she changed majors and graduated with a degree in English.
It was in Chapel Hill that she met her husband, James Terry Sanford. The two were married on July 4, 1942, at Hettie Dickson's home in Hopkinsville, just before Terry enlisted in the army as a paratrooper. Margaret Rose had taught in the public schools of North Carolina's Chatham County the year before the marriage, and she returned to teach in Kentucky while her husband was overseas during WWII.
Margaret Rose Knight was already the mother of two children, Betsee, 11, and James Terry Jr., eight, when Terry was elected Governor of North Carolina in 1961. Music, books and flowers were an important part of her life. Just before moving to Raleigh, Margaret Rose began taking violin lessons, something she had long wanted to do. The Sanford's held the first North Carolina Symphony Ball in 1961.
From Raleigh, the family returned to Fayetteville with their two children, and then to Durham when her husband became President of Duke University in 1969. Always supportive of her husband's ambitions, Margaret Rose Sanford handled their new position just as she had their move to the Executive Mansion. Although Governor Sanford did not initially intend to remain as Duke's president for so long, he continued in the post for 15 years. During that time, Margaret Rose served on the board of the Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh, and the board of trustees at East Carolina University. She was a member of the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in Service, the Education Commission of the States, the North Carolina Symphony Board, the Stagville Restoration Board, and the board of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Governor James B. Hunt Jr. appointed her to the delegation of Duke Faculty and administration to visit the People's Republic of China in 1975, a time when China was still closed to most Westerners.
When Terry retired from Duke in 1986, he and Margaret Rose moved into a home close to Duke's West campus. Margaret Rose accompanied her husband to Washington, D.C., in 1987 when he began his term in the U.S. Senate, and the couple tried to spend their weekends in their home in Durham. She enjoyed traveling, particularly on trips to political engagements around the country during her husband's years of public service.
Margaret Rose continued to live in their Durham home for a number of years following her husband's death in 1998. In April, 1999, she and her family attended a White House ceremony at which President Clinton signed a bill naming the Raleigh Federal Building after Terry Sanford. Margaret Rose relocated into an apartment at the Forest at Duke. She resided there until recently, when illness took her to Duke Hospital.
Margaret Rose is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Knight Sanford, of Durham; son, James Terry Sanford Jr. and his wife, Laurie, of Durham; grandchildren, Lauren Marie Sanford and Virginia Knight Sanford; and her brother, Col. John Richard Knight, of Hopkinsville, Ky.
Margaret Rose Knight was born on June 6, 1918, in Hopkinsville, Ky. Her parents, John Richard and Elizabeth Ford Knight, died when she and her brother were young, and she was raised by her late aunt, Hettie Dickinson. Margaret Rose attended Christian College in Columbia, Mo., until she transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she graduated in 1941. Although she originally came to the University of North Carolina to study drama with the Playmakers Theater, she changed majors and graduated with a degree in English.
It was in Chapel Hill that she met her husband, James Terry Sanford. The two were married on July 4, 1942, at Hettie Dickson's home in Hopkinsville, just before Terry enlisted in the army as a paratrooper. Margaret Rose had taught in the public schools of North Carolina's Chatham County the year before the marriage, and she returned to teach in Kentucky while her husband was overseas during WWII.
Margaret Rose Knight was already the mother of two children, Betsee, 11, and James Terry Jr., eight, when Terry was elected Governor of North Carolina in 1961. Music, books and flowers were an important part of her life. Just before moving to Raleigh, Margaret Rose began taking violin lessons, something she had long wanted to do. The Sanford's held the first North Carolina Symphony Ball in 1961.
From Raleigh, the family returned to Fayetteville with their two children, and then to Durham when her husband became President of Duke University in 1969. Always supportive of her husband's ambitions, Margaret Rose Sanford handled their new position just as she had their move to the Executive Mansion. Although Governor Sanford did not initially intend to remain as Duke's president for so long, he continued in the post for 15 years. During that time, Margaret Rose served on the board of the Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh, and the board of trustees at East Carolina University. She was a member of the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in Service, the Education Commission of the States, the North Carolina Symphony Board, the Stagville Restoration Board, and the board of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Governor James B. Hunt Jr. appointed her to the delegation of Duke Faculty and administration to visit the People's Republic of China in 1975, a time when China was still closed to most Westerners.
When Terry retired from Duke in 1986, he and Margaret Rose moved into a home close to Duke's West campus. Margaret Rose accompanied her husband to Washington, D.C., in 1987 when he began his term in the U.S. Senate, and the couple tried to spend their weekends in their home in Durham. She enjoyed traveling, particularly on trips to political engagements around the country during her husband's years of public service.
Margaret Rose continued to live in their Durham home for a number of years following her husband's death in 1998. In April, 1999, she and her family attended a White House ceremony at which President Clinton signed a bill naming the Raleigh Federal Building after Terry Sanford. Margaret Rose relocated into an apartment at the Forest at Duke. She resided there until recently, when illness took her to Duke Hospital.
Margaret Rose is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Knight Sanford, of Durham; son, James Terry Sanford Jr. and his wife, Laurie, of Durham; grandchildren, Lauren Marie Sanford and Virginia Knight Sanford; and her brother, Col. John Richard Knight, of Hopkinsville, Ky.
Margaret Rose Knight Sanford, a First Lady of North Carolina and avid philanthropist and patron of the arts, died peacefully at Duke Hospital on August 26, 2006. The wife of the late former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford was 88.
Margaret Rose Knight was born on June 6, 1918, in Hopkinsville, Ky. Her parents, John Richard and Elizabeth Ford Knight, died when she and her brother were young, and she was raised by her late aunt, Hettie Dickinson. Margaret Rose attended Christian College in Columbia, Mo., until she transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she graduated in 1941. Although she originally came to the University of North Carolina to study drama with the Playmakers Theater, she changed majors and graduated with a degree in English.
It was in Chapel Hill that she met her husband, James Terry Sanford. The two were married on July 4, 1942, at Hettie Dickson's home in Hopkinsville, just before Terry enlisted in the army as a paratrooper. Margaret Rose had taught in the public schools of North Carolina's Chatham County the year before the marriage, and she returned to teach in Kentucky while her husband was overseas during WWII.
Margaret Rose Knight was already the mother of two children, Betsee, 11, and James Terry Jr., eight, when Terry was elected Governor of North Carolina in 1961. Music, books and flowers were an important part of her life. Just before moving to Raleigh, Margaret Rose began taking violin lessons, something she had long wanted to do. The Sanford's held the first North Carolina Symphony Ball in 1961.
From Raleigh, the family returned to Fayetteville with their two children, and then to Durham when her husband became President of Duke University in 1969. Always supportive of her husband's ambitions, Margaret Rose Sanford handled their new position just as she had their move to the Executive Mansion. Although Governor Sanford did not initially intend to remain as Duke's president for so long, he continued in the post for 15 years. During that time, Margaret Rose served on the board of the Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh, and the board of trustees at East Carolina University. She was a member of the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in Service, the Education Commission of the States, the North Carolina Symphony Board, the Stagville Restoration Board, and the board of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Governor James B. Hunt Jr. appointed her to the delegation of Duke Faculty and administration to visit the People's Republic of China in 1975, a time when China was still closed to most Westerners.
When Terry retired from Duke in 1986, he and Margaret Rose moved into a home close to Duke's West campus. Margaret Rose accompanied her husband to Washington, D.C., in 1987 when he began his term in the U.S. Senate, and the couple tried to spend their weekends in their home in Durham. She enjoyed traveling, particularly on trips to political engagements around the country during her husband's years of public service.
Margaret Rose continued to live in their Durham home for a number of years following her husband's death in 1998. In April, 1999, she and her family attended a White House ceremony at which President Clinton signed a bill naming the Raleigh Federal Building after Terry Sanford. Margaret Rose relocated into an apartment at the Forest at Duke. She resided there until recently, when illness took her to Duke Hospital.
Margaret Rose is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Knight Sanford, of Durham; son, James Terry Sanford Jr. and his wife, Laurie, of Durham; grandchildren, Lauren Marie Sanford and Virginia Knight Sanford; and her brother, Col. John Richard Knight, of Hopkinsville, Ky.
Margaret Rose Knight was born on June 6, 1918, in Hopkinsville, Ky. Her parents, John Richard and Elizabeth Ford Knight, died when she and her brother were young, and she was raised by her late aunt, Hettie Dickinson. Margaret Rose attended Christian College in Columbia, Mo., until she transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which she graduated in 1941. Although she originally came to the University of North Carolina to study drama with the Playmakers Theater, she changed majors and graduated with a degree in English.
It was in Chapel Hill that she met her husband, James Terry Sanford. The two were married on July 4, 1942, at Hettie Dickson's home in Hopkinsville, just before Terry enlisted in the army as a paratrooper. Margaret Rose had taught in the public schools of North Carolina's Chatham County the year before the marriage, and she returned to teach in Kentucky while her husband was overseas during WWII.
Margaret Rose Knight was already the mother of two children, Betsee, 11, and James Terry Jr., eight, when Terry was elected Governor of North Carolina in 1961. Music, books and flowers were an important part of her life. Just before moving to Raleigh, Margaret Rose began taking violin lessons, something she had long wanted to do. The Sanford's held the first North Carolina Symphony Ball in 1961.
From Raleigh, the family returned to Fayetteville with their two children, and then to Durham when her husband became President of Duke University in 1969. Always supportive of her husband's ambitions, Margaret Rose Sanford handled their new position just as she had their move to the Executive Mansion. Although Governor Sanford did not initially intend to remain as Duke's president for so long, he continued in the post for 15 years. During that time, Margaret Rose served on the board of the Methodist Home for Children in Raleigh, and the board of trustees at East Carolina University. She was a member of the Defense Advisory Committee for Women in Service, the Education Commission of the States, the North Carolina Symphony Board, the Stagville Restoration Board, and the board of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Governor James B. Hunt Jr. appointed her to the delegation of Duke Faculty and administration to visit the People's Republic of China in 1975, a time when China was still closed to most Westerners.
When Terry retired from Duke in 1986, he and Margaret Rose moved into a home close to Duke's West campus. Margaret Rose accompanied her husband to Washington, D.C., in 1987 when he began his term in the U.S. Senate, and the couple tried to spend their weekends in their home in Durham. She enjoyed traveling, particularly on trips to political engagements around the country during her husband's years of public service.
Margaret Rose continued to live in their Durham home for a number of years following her husband's death in 1998. In April, 1999, she and her family attended a White House ceremony at which President Clinton signed a bill naming the Raleigh Federal Building after Terry Sanford. Margaret Rose relocated into an apartment at the Forest at Duke. She resided there until recently, when illness took her to Duke Hospital.
Margaret Rose is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Knight Sanford, of Durham; son, James Terry Sanford Jr. and his wife, Laurie, of Durham; grandchildren, Lauren Marie Sanford and Virginia Knight Sanford; and her brother, Col. John Richard Knight, of Hopkinsville, Ky.
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